I think a lot of us feel the same way. Being from the U.K, its always been about seeing shows as soon as possible, until I can buy them on dvd, not about money. The very fact bit torrent works shows the possibilities online. Worrying about licensing issues online is a bit silly, but the way to change this is for content providers to have global licenses instead, then apply per region advertising to each DL country. You’ll find some websites do this when you visit them.

If only Nielsen would track this stuff fairly, and perhaps take online popularity into account, next to regional tv viewing, then maybe less tv shows would be cancelled.

lets all take a moment to thank the socially retarded individuals who cap these shows for us! I hope they’re getting paid somewhere along the line…

Comparing numbers 1,049,000 and 6,268,969 this is wrong. It’s either _500%_ higher than or 600% _of_ Nielsens estimates.

Just FYI. =)

The networks need to wake up and really see how people are using the internet for their TV fix. Instead of them trying to tell us how we should use it, let us tell them. They must adapt in this new market place, not us. Internet gives us the power not them.

Look at Hulu. They have been screwing people with their own system for viewing the shows online. Why? The people who watch will even sit and watch the commercials at the start. They just want to control the app they watch it with. The people just want to watch their shows. So instead of making people happy, they screw them for control and the thought that they are losing money.

Also even though in Canada we ALSO carry the main US stations (ABC, CBC, NBC and FOX) Hulu will not allow canadians to watch. Why? We still buy the same products that your commercials advertise for, I could watch the show on my local FREE network who also carries the show. But no. Its all a power trip.

So until the networks and hollywood smarten up. I will be getting torrents of my TV shows.

Sadly, the shows that people torrent (Sarah Conner, Stargates, Arrested Development, Chuck and many others) still rely on neilson to get their ratings. Therefore they have low raitings and get cancelled. Great shows, plenty of fans wanting to watch, but a system where the people in charge have no clue what the real world does to see their programs.

It would be funny if it wasn’t so sad.

To a degree I guess you are right maybe it gets bad, but once it does people will find a way that will suit them and their needs. Society is a complex system and dynamic it’s nothing like the entertainment industry, look at the example of the software industry they battle piracy in the 80′s too and were successful to a point and it was getting harder and harder to have illegal software then something amazing happened people got together to develop stuff that they didn’t have the money to pay for it and one guy showed how to use the law to protect the freedoms of the people(Thank you Stallman) and a kid(Thank you Torvalds) living with his parents working alone impacted the OS market 10 years latter this things were born out of necessity to restore balance in the system, which benefited not only society but business everywhere and I believe that the same thing will happen with arts and that is why I don’t concern myself very much. People will start doing things on their own and create new models. It’s great that the industry go postal on society and make fantastic claims that no one can prove because people get tired and start making things for themselves, and this is the turning point when people start making their on things and turning their backs to those who hurt them. It will happen if the industry continue just wait and see.